


Interludes Between Shadows and Light

by nothingeverlost



Series: Shadows and Light [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21563212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingeverlost/pseuds/nothingeverlost
Summary: Scenes that take place after Things Half in Shadow and before the sequel, And Halfway in Light.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Huntsman | Sheriff Graham, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Shadows and Light [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547152
Comments: 17
Kudos: 28





	1. Avalon

**Author's Note:**

> Belle was sexually abused. This, and the resulting trauma and depression will be referenced in fics.
> 
> This begins the discussion about a romantic relationship. This is fiction. It's an Rumbelle AU. In real life a romantic relationship between patient and therapist is a terrible and dangerous idea. I'm not advocating it. I recognize that some people are rightfully uncomfortable with the idea. I hope I handle it well.

In celebration of a month of not cutting herself, Doctor Gold added Belle’s name to the list of patients allowed outside on their own. Of course it rained for a solid week, right after he did so, but on the first nice day he watched as she slipped outside during free time. The fact that she was smiling felt like a victory.

He gave her an hour, before abandoning his paperwork and following her outside. An hour showed trust, but any longer and he might start to worry; after all it was her first taste of freedom and for some patients that went to their head. Besides, he’d been cooped up for a week with the rain too, and could use some fresh air.

It wasn’t a surprise when he found her in the rose garden; it was her second favorite place, and the path to the lake was still restricted to supervised walks. He was surprised, however, to find her lying on the ground, ignoring the roses completely. 

“Belle.” He spoke louder than he meant to, and moved faster than was wise over the rain soaked ground. She might be hurt. She might need him.

“Shhh…” When she held up her hand his heart stilled a little. She wasn’t unconscious and didn’t sound upset. He was still curious and perhaps a little worried, but not scared enough to embarrass himself by running anymore.

“What are you…”

“You’ll scare her away,” Belle whispered. After a few more steps Gold was in the garden proper, and saw what she meant. Cowering between a fence post and a rose bush was a tiny black kitten, its wet fur matted to its body. It didn’t look much bigger than his first. Belle held her hand out flat, moving it carefully closer to the shivering animal. “It’s alright, sweetheart. No one’s going to hurt you. You can come out here.”

“If the mother cat is around it’s not going to like you being that close, Belle,” he cautioned. Good parents, after all, were fiercely protective of their children.

“I sat back on the bench for almost half an hour, but I didn’t see anything. The poor thing is so small I’m worried its been abandoned.” Her patience was rewarded when the kitten let her touch it with a single fingertip. The sound it made wasn’t even a proper meow. “I can’t leave it out here, Doctor Gold. It has no way to stay warm.”

She looked over her shoulder for just a moment, but he saw her eyes. The kitten had, in all likelihood, been abandoned by its mother. For Belle that was something too close to her heart to ignore, especially right now. In some ways she was dealing with her mother’s death all over again, as they discussed it in their sessions as the moment everything had changed. It had been a month, as well, since she’d seen her father and as much as that was for her protection it was also a long time to be without a parent. “If you can manage to pick it up we can take it inside and find something for it to eat. Or drink, rather. And a blanket.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t turn back to look at him, but her voice was so full of pleasure that he’d promise her a dozen cats and anything she asked for. This last month had been a hellish one for her.

He stood completely still as she cooed and whispered, easing the kitten out of the tangle of thorns under the rose bush and into her awaiting hands. When she had it she sat up, tucking the animal into her jacket. “She’s so cold.”

“You’re warming it up the best way possible, sharing your body heat. I’m sure it will be fine once it’s dry.” Even though the sun was still up it was getting cold out. His knee was aching, and for just a flash of a moment he wondered what it would be like to be warmed up by her. With disgust he pushed the thought away; she was his patient, and hurting. He shouldn’t want or think such a thing. “My office, dearie. I have towels, and perhaps even a water bottle.”

He led the way and she followed, carrying on a constant stream of chatter aimed at her jacket. He could make out very little of it, just the rise and fall of her voice. As she entered his office, however, he caught one word that struck him as curious, as she was talking to a cat. “Avalon?”

“We were discussing names. Midnight is too common. Shadow isn’t quite happy enough. But I thought Avalon suited her.” She took the towel when he handed it to her and wrapped up the kitten, moving her hands in gentle circles to dry it.

“As in the place where Arthur died?” He wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the symbolism of that. A black cat, and death.

“The place where Arthur sought refuge. A place of safety and peace.” She looked up at him, and he could almost hear her thoughts; ‘Like here.’

“We can’t keep a cat here, Belle.” He would like to, if it meant keeping her smiling like she was now. But he could not bend the rules so obviously for her without hearing about it from every single patient and Regina. And a cat, even a small one, wasn’t something that would stay secret.

“Of course not. Avalon deserves a proper home.” She was busy stroking the kitten, making sure it was dry all the way through and not hurt, and missed him staring at her. A proper home; she wasn’t just talking about the cat. She had, at the moment, no proper home; before Storybrooke she’d been living with her father, and there was a restraining order out against him coming within a hundred yards. All she had was this place, and while it was best for her it wasn’t, and never would be, a home.

“I can stop at the shelter on my way home; I’m certain they can find him a good home.” He’d had to leave work early to get there before it closed, but he could take reports home with him to work on. It would give her some much needed peace of mind, and maybe even a good night’s rest.

“You don’t have any pets, Doctor Gold.” She tilted her head to the side, looking a little like Bailey when he’d been younger and working up to asking for something.

“For good reason. I’m away from the house quite a bit, and not used to sharing my space with anything.” Rather than wait for the question that he knew was coming, he cut her off with an answer. He couldn’t have a pet; hell, he didn’t even have any houseplants with the exception of the cactus that his son had given him for father’s day a couple of years ago, as a joke.

“Cats are very independent. But good company too.” As carefully as she’s approached the kitten she reached for his hand, tugging at the fingers until he opened his hand flat. And then she handed him the kitten. It shivered, but it was dry and warm and even softer than it looked. It looked up at him with golden brown eyes that seemed to speak as eloquently as Belle’s did.

“She would keep you from being lonely.” One of Belle’s hands continued to stroke the kitten until it calmed.

“I’m not…” But it wouldn’t be fair to lie when he insisted on complete honesty from her. “Not really a cat person.”

“But you’ll keep an open mind, won’t you?” She folded the damp towel and set it on the glass portion of the coffee table.

“You are too clever, dearie.” It was an oft repeated phrase of his, especially during group sessions. As much as he’d never considered a pet before he found himself making her a promise. “I will keep it for tonight, but I make no promises beyond that.”

“One day at a time is enough for us, isn’t it Avalon?” She bent down to kiss the kitten’s head; when she looked back up at him her eyes were bright with unshed tears, but her smile was just as bright. He knew in that moment he was going to end up adopting the damn cat. 

Bailey was never going to let him hear the end of this.


	2. Queen of Tarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A first outing

“The lake?” she asked, when he mentioned getting out of the building for a little while.

“Not today. I’m thinking something a little different.”

To Belle’s surprise he led her to the parking lot and his Cadillac. It wasn’t until then that she realized it had been more than two months since she’d been in a car and away from Storybrooke. “We’re going somewhere?”

“Just into town, if that feels comfortable to you. It’s hard to remember, sometimes, that there’s a whole world beyond Storybrooke when you’ve been here for a while.” He held open the passenger door for her. Gaston had done that, the first few dates they had gone on. No one else had.

“I think I’d like that.” She slid into the seat, her body tensing for just a moment when the door closed; it was such a small space. But she was safe. Doctor Gold would not let anything happen to her; he’d made that promise and there were no signs of him breaking it yet.

There was music playing, when he started the car. Something with strings, richer and more haunting than the music he sometimes played in his office. “I can turn it off, if you like.”

“I like it.” Violins always sounded sad to her, but there was nothing bad about that. it felt almost as if they were crying for her, so that she didn’t have to. In a strange way it gave her hope, that one day she wouldn’t feel like crying at all. 

It was fifteen minutes before they turned onto Main Street; Storybrooke was tucked away from town by a good distance. Gold parked along the curb halfway down the street, and gestured at a building across the street. “We’re going in there, if it suits.”

“It’s perfect.” It was a small white two-story cottage, looking almost more home than business except for the sign covering the upper balcony. Queen of Tarts Bakery. “Just don’t tell Jefferson about this place.”

“I don’t generally bring patients here.” He was busy enough getting out of the car that he probably didn’t notice her confused expression. He didn’t bring patients but he was bringing her? She quickly schooled her expression, though, and didn’t ask as he walked her across the street. She was too busy thinking about the hand at the small of her back, guiding her.

“Oh not you again.” The man at the counter, maybe a little older than herself, didn’t seem to be well-schooled in customer service. He rolled his eyes when the bell over the door alerted him to their arrival.

“Just find us a pastry that hasn’t been burnt, if you have any, and we’ll be out of your hair. And for the love of god tell me that someone besides you made the coffee.” Belle looked bewildered when Gold snarked at the man. She thought this was a place he liked?

“My coffee is twice as good as yours even when I make it blindfolded and use swamp water.” Suddenly the stranger was smiling, his eyes glinting with amusement. There was something familiar about that smile. “Two cups, pops? And there are some blueberry white chocolate cookies in the back, still cooling before I put them in the display case.”

“Three cups, son, if you’ll join us. Tea, Belle, or would you like coffee? Decaf, of course.” Gold’s eyes were laughing. Belle didn’t know why she hadn’t seen the similarities right away; they were obviously father and son.

“Coffee would be nice, thank you.” She wasn’t about to admit that blueberry wasn’t her favorite, not when her doctor’s son was being so nice. Gold, on the other hand, didn’t let it go so easily.

“Anything you like, Belle. You won’t hurt the brat’s feelings if you ask for something other than blueberry.” He nodded a little as he watched her.

Belle took a breath. Her own choice; it was a rare thing. “Do you have any of those dark chocolate and cherry cookies?”

“I just so happen to have some of those in the oven. Five minutes, if you can wait that long, but I can have the coffee now.” Instead of paper cups he brought the coffee to a table in three mugs. Hers was green with a silly little frog wearing a crown on it.

“Thank,” she said as she wrapped her hands around the warmth and breathed in the smell.

“Yes, thank you, lad.” She wasn’t sure but she almost thought she saw a wink pass between them. She had to be wrong, but it was amusing to think about. This was a side of her doctor that she hadn’t seen. She liked it.


End file.
